Sunday Salute: Cathryn McCrae, known as 'Big Mama,' also had a big heart

Sunday

Jul 28, 2013 at 12:01 AM

LILLINGTON - The first thing people noticed about Cathryn "Big Mama" McRae was that she wasn't big at all.

At least in stature.

But you'd be hard-pressed to find someone with a bigger heart. McRae, who died July 20 at age 102, was fond of inviting people to her home in the Summerville community for afternoon coffee or supper.

Or, if need be, a place to stay.

"She always cooked by the potful, because she said she never knew how many people would be eating that evening," said her daughter, Helen Parker. "She loved feeding people."

So much so that from her 70s until age 85, she worked as a coordinator for the area Meals on Wheels program, often arranging food delivery for people younger than she was.

"People said they never heard anyone say a bad word about Mom," said daughter Pat Heikkinen. "And that was because you never heard her say a bad word about anyone else. She never yelled at us, even when we gave her reason to, and she never spoke ill of others."

She was born in 1911, the fourth of 11 children to Judge Floyd Herbert and Cornelia Stewart Taylor. She was a lifetime Democrat from a family that was politically active. Her grandfather rode the county on horseback to register women voters after the 19th Amendment passed.

After graduating from Buies Creek Academy, now Campbell University, she married Dougald McRae from Anderson Creek. She had four children - three girls and a boy - and moved to the Summerville Community.

"That's how she became a Presbyterian," said her daughter, Anne Saunders. "In fact, she was the first female deacon at the church.

"All her life she was a Baptist, but the Summerville Church was so close and just reopening. That's where we were all raised.

"She used to say, 'It's all right you children were sprinkled, but I'm so glad I was baptized."

Her nickname came with her first grandchild. In a room full of mothers, to get attention from grandma, the child hollered for "Big Mama."

"It stuck," Heikkinen. said. "She wasn't big, not by any stretch, but it somehow fit her."

She never owned a driver's license, never had a birth certificate. Her daughters wondered how she would be able to vote if IDs were required.

Even at age 90, McRae was adventurous. Her daughters learned that their 90-something mom was planning to fly to San Juan, Puerto Rico, to take a cruise.

"We figured one of us ought to go with her," Saunders said. "But she would have taken off by herself if no one went."

In later years, she slowed down a bit, but still got around. Her last shopping trip came as she was preparing to celebrate her 100th birthday in 2011.

When McCrae fell and broke her hip earlier this year, "the doctors asked us if we had her medical history," Parker said. "We said, 'Yes, she's 102 years old.' That's all the medical history she needed.

"She really was a people person. She was a bit reserved, but she loved people, especially children. She already had room for one more at the table."

Saunders agreed. "When it came to love, her heart didn't divide - it multiplied."

Staff writer Chick Jacobs can be reached at 486-3515 or jacobsc@fayobserver.com

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